The agency PM who has been let down by a technical partner on a live event never forgets it. This resource covers everything from choosing the right production company through to managing load-in, briefing a scenic fabricator, and getting the LED wall specification right. Use what you need now. Bookmark the rest.
Every agency has worked with an AV company that looked credible on the quote and fell apart on the day. The kit was sub-hired. The LD had not read the run of show. The project manager on-site had never met the creative director. The relationship between agency and technical partner is a high-stakes one, and the failure modes are consistent enough that most experienced producers could recite them from memory.
The fix is not harder briefing or better contracts, though both matter. It is choosing a production partner who operates at the same standard you hold yourself to: full-time technical director assigned to the event, in-house kit maintained and not sub-hired on the Friday before your Saturday event, and documented production plans issued as standard rather than extracted under pressure.
The most productive agency relationships with production companies start at the briefing stage. An AV company that receives a half-finished brief fills in the gaps with assumptions, and those assumptions will not always match the client expectations you have spent months managing. The brief should cover venue access, content formats and file delivery timelines, the creative treatment and what it is trying to achieve, and a clear definition of what a successful event looks like from the client perspective.
For larger productions, the relationship should move into a technical recce as early as possible. Venues change. Plans change. The technical drawings from the last event at that venue may not reflect a recent refurbishment or a change in venue management requirements. A recce with the production team, the creative director, and the venue contact in the same room eliminates the majority of load-in day surprises.
At load-in, the agency PM role shifts from creative direction to logistics support. The most effective PMs maintain a clear sign-off process: tech check by a fixed time, lighting state review, sound check with any talent, a walk-through with the account lead before the first guest arrives. The productions that go wrong are almost always the ones that skipped a step because the schedule slipped.
Services, case studies, differentiators, and a brief submission form in one place. Share it with a colleague or use it as a reference when briefing the production element of an event.
Full services overview, case studies, technical capabilities, and a brief submission form for agency PMs, producers, and creative directors.
Written for people who need to understand the subject well enough to commission it correctly, brief it accurately, or hold a supplier to account. Each article covers one topic from first principles through to the questions worth asking before any money is committed.
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